Video: Inmate escapes Ark. jail in elaborate plan

Derrick Estell is still at large after fleeing the jail and hopping into a getaway car Sunday

By Gavin Lesnick
Arkansas Online

GARLAND, Ark. — An inmate who escaped from the Garland County jail made his way through a service window in a booking area while another inmate distracted officers, authorities said Monday. The Garland County sheriff's office says Derrick Estell, 33, is still on the loose after the escape Sunday afternoon, which officials labeled an "elaborate plan."

"Once the deputies were away from the window, Estell jumped the counter and slid out the window, with one of our deputies immediately following him through," Lt. James Martin said in a statement, noting that only two deputies were on duty.

"Once the deputies were away from the window, Estell jumped the counter and slid out the window, with one of our deputies immediately following him through," Lt. James Martin said in a statement, noting that only two deputies were on duty. Estell made it outside into the parking lot and then into a nearby alleyway where a woman identified as Tamara Upshaw was waiting in a vehicle owned by Harding, Martin wrote. Estell got in and the car drove off as the pursuing deputy tried to break out the passenger window.